Floods, rain-delays, LaPorta glove-work (only to be outdone by Adam Jones), Marte go-ahead home runs, oh man.
This flooded dugouts thing is hilarious. Watch the video here.
Carmona sitting on the top of the bench above the water, the Indians coming out and taking pictures. It's just comedy. The game would have probably started sooner had this flood problem not had happened.
Let's talk Marte and LaPorta though.
Both upped their hit-streaks to 10 games each. LaPorta has played in ten games since his call-up, so he really has just picked it up and gone off and Marte has joined him since the addition.
It was Marte's second go-ahead home run in three nights.
Marte goes 2 for 4 with the three-run shot. Matt LaPorta goes 4-4 with a run scored and he's now hitting .296 on the season.
And HELL... If Andy Marte is pushing Matt LaPorta, I keep Marte as long as I keep LaPorta. Who cares.
"You look at Andy Marte and Matt LaPorte, they've been fantastic the last week or so," said Indians manager Eric Wedge. "I like the way both of them have made some adjustments. They've made some subtle adjustments that have made a big difference. You like players to step up at the right time, and both those kids have lately."
"I think one of us sees the other doing good, we keep pushing each other," LaPorta said. "That's the way it was in Columbus. We feed off each other, basically."
Feed off each other? Fine with me. Marte's making a serious case to be on this team next year and if this continues for the rest of the season, the Indians will have to make some sort of decision somewhere.
Can you argue with confidence though? Marte finally has it and look what he's doing. He knows he'll be in the lineup on a daily basis, there is no second thoughts.
"I'm just trying to show them I'm ready to play here," Marte said. "I don't know what their plans are for the off-season."
As for why Chris Perez pitched the ninth for a save and not Kerry Wood. A little arm soreness for Wood as he's pitched a lot more recently. Wedge says not to worry.
More soreness though and this is with Travis Hafner and his shoulder. The other shoulder though. Hafner was held out of the lineup with LEFT shoulder soreness, not right shoulder, the one he had all the trouble with for the past year.
They'll see how he feels today before the game and if things are still hurting, he'll get it checked out tomorrow on the off day.
Mike Aubrey has yet to appear in a game with Baltimore against Cleveland, but he has been in seven total games since his call up on the 18th. He's rooting for old teammates that have gotten a chance, but he knew something was up when there was mass call-ups happening and his name wasn't one of them.
"After they called up some guys [from Class AAA Columbus], it became apparent that there wasn't a whole lot I could do to get called up unless they traded everybody," said Aubrey. "Then I got traded and that's when they traded everybody else.
"A lot of guys have been given some great opportunities over there with the trades," said Aubrey. "I'm rooting them on. It's tough up here.
Speaking of call ups... Carlos Carrasco will get his on September 1st when the rosters expand to 40 players. He will then start the game on Tuesday against Detroit.
Right now, it looks like it will be a six-man rotation, at least for a start or two. David Huff was scheduled to go on Tuesday, but he's obviously being pushed out now. The Indians don't want Huff pitching too much because they want to protect his arm, but he hasn't reached that 160ish inning limit they set quite yet.
John Mirabelli, director of scouting had good things to say about his progress.
"I saw him last Friday night," said John Mirabelli, Indians director of scouting. "He was aggressive. He touched 95 and was pitching at 92 mph to 94 mph in the seventh.
"It's the third time I've seen him in the last 12 months. I think he's made some strides. He showed consistency with his slider and pitched inside with his fastball.
Oh and going back to the game real quick.
How about Rafael Perez? Quiet now, but he's actually pitching well since the call-up. Right-place right time and all with the three wins in the past seven days, but aside from that hiccup against KC last week, 0's dating back to the 13th of August.
We always learn something from Terry Pluto's weekly rundown and in the first two snippets of stuff from Indians president Paul Dolan, we learn interesting news of Jake Westbrook's contract.
An insurance policy on Westbrook's contract will cover about half of the 11 million the Indians owe Westbrook since he'll be out for the entire season.
Had the Indians not made those trades, they'd have lost nearly 20 million this season and close to 30 million next year. They are in the red for real, but had they not dealt, they'd be in serious trouble. The Cavaliers' success and LeBron James alone are really putting the hurt on both the Indians and Browns, Indians more than Browns because let's face it, this will always been a Browns town.
Mark Shapiro will return next year as GM, no questions asked. A decision on Wedge will be made quickly after the season is over.
Now turning to on the field, it looks like the Indians are going to go with LaPorta in left-field next year and either Jordan Brown or Andy Marte at first or some sort of mashing of those three in two of those spots, because Brown can play the outfield, whatever works out.
Brown will get a shot this year, no doubt about it. They cannot deny him.
New Hey Hoynsie, I'm not reading. He!
Finally... What more can you say about Asdrubal Cabrera? He's the focus of Sunday's preview. It's Justin Masterson on the mound for the Tribe, let's go for yet another series win.
Original Story:
http://www.thetribedaily.com/2009/08/...
